HC Deb 19 January 1993 vol 217 cc146-7W
Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the link between education standard spending assessments and academic attainment.

Mr. Forth

My right hon. Friend has made no such assessment, since standard spending assessments are primarily a mechanism for distributing grant and local education authorities have discretion to order their spending priorities as they wish.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what level of funding, based on secondary education standard spending assessment, an 11 to 15, 1,000-pupil school would receive in(a) Wakefield, (b) Bradford, (c) Wandsworth and (d) Westminster.

Mr. Forth

Standard spending assessments are designed to reflect the varying costs, in different areas, of providing a standard level of service, taking account of different local circumstances. They are essentially a mechanism for distributing grant: decisions on spending priorities between education and other services and within education are for individual local authorities. The funding that a school receives thus largely depends on local decisions about priorities and also on the local authority's scheme for local management of schools. Moreover, the education elements of SSAs relate to all LEA functions, including central services and the maintenance of special schools. There is no separately identifiable element relating to the funding of ordinary schools.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the standard spending assessment per post-16 education student for each metropolitan authority in 1993–94.

Mr. Forth

From 1993–94 the education of most post-16 students will be the responsibility of the Further Education Funding Council. LEAs will continue to be responsible for pupils over 16 in schools and for certain kinds of further education for adults. There is no separately identifiable element in 1993–94 SSAs for further education for adults. The post-16 element of SSAs relates to 16-plus pupils in schools, including special schools and related central services and support functions such as home-to-school transport.